Morris tribune., 1887-01-19
BILL COLLECTING.
WAYS OF THE SMALL LAWYERS AND
THE REGULAR AGENCIES.
How the Tough Cases are Managed-The
Burdozer and Kis Club-Tho Cheerful
Debtor-The Sarcastic Kind-The Blus-

tertng Man.
"There are good many collectors in
San Francisco, but they may all be de-
scribed in two classes. The first class in
cludes the small lawyers-young fellows
just getting start, as a rule, though
you find some old hands among them.
They work singly. The others belong
usually to one of the regular collection
agencies and work together on some sort
of a system-hunt in parties, as it We're,
and beat out their game like band of
sportsmen.
The collector settled himself for a long
conversation by fitting his chair back,
resting his feet on the table, and light
ing a cigar.
"Now," he continued, ''the young law
Yer has several ways OF going about his
business. Supposing him to have case
IA bill-the next thing to do is to find
his man. If he is impecunious he goes
out in person with the bill and hunts the
fellow up. If he has had Il fee within
week or two and has the price of half
dozen meals i'll his pocket he usually
writes. With an ordinary bill he must
write four letters. The first will say:
Dear Sir: \ bill against you has been
placed in my hands for collection. You
will ohlige, etc, by calling at my office and
settling the same. There is no answer tG
this. The second letter is still polite but
firm. The third letter is worded some
what i'll this way: Dear Sir: If the in
closed is not paid we shall begin suit at
once. The fourth and last is n summons
to answer in a suit. In nine cases out of
ten this is effectual. If man has any
standing at all he won't go through the
Justices court for little bill, so they come
up and settle.
"But these are simple cases. The tough
ones are usually turned over to the collec-
tion agencies. The collection agencies will
take anything. and if the bill is collectible
they can usually get the money. When
bills conc il! they are 'districted' accord
ing to M ,'';lt OF the city in which they
belong. ';,,:E ara then turned over to
the regular collector for that district who
present them i'll the usual smooth, oily
form: A!tar n bill has been put out once
1t is rea%:,i-nc.i. according to the reception
which |; received. If the debtor manifested
a disposition to pay, it is placed in the
hand, ii til" ordinary collector. The hard
cases, though. are turned over to the col
lector technically known as the bulldozer.
THE GCLLDOZER AND HIS CLUB.
"The bulldozer is big man, and usually
the har>l cae, swells himself up to look
as big as possible, tramps up and down
the room with his club for a cane, and
announces. that he has come to see that
bill pail. He doesn't make any threats;
that is against the law. But he has
very suggestive way of twirling his club
and making the most of his big voice,
and if the hard case is q small man he
usually succumbs at the first encounter.
II he is y big man the argument gets pretty
warm. and they dare each other to come
out into the street and fight. But as the
bulldozar has orders not to fight unless
necessary, and there are not many who
want to try to throw him out, there is
usually n compromise.
What struck me as remarkable as any
thing when first went into the business,
resumed the collector, refectively, after
pause, twas the number of men who
would acknowledge bill but decline to
pay it for some frivolous reason. There
are lots of men who go into an enter
prise with the cheerful intention of allow
ing someone else to foot the bills in case
of failure. / had a case where a ma
chinist did some work for an inventor.
presented the bill last week. The bill
is all right he confessed, but the ma
chine is no good. Do you think 1 am
paying bills of that kind?' AS he has a
little property l think he will pay in a
few days. Sometimes man of this kind
denies that the bill is rightfully his. He
made the purchase. or had the work done
ON somebody else'S advice, and we must |
get the money out of them.
Zone of the characters of the profession |
is the cheerful debtor. He is a bland smil |
ing person that sheds threats as a duck |
does water. He has no property and no |
income. He is as unco lcerned as the |
summer breeze. and admits the bill with |
as much unconcern as though it were |
his mother-in-law's He invariably winds |
up with oh, go ahead and sue if you think |
you can get it that way. I haven't the |
slightest objection
ONE OF THE SARCASTIC KIND.
The sarcastic kind is usually woman. |
had one yesterday that follows the cheer |
full business Of laying out the dead. BY |
the way she went for me I didn't know |
but what she was going to follow her pro-
fession right there, and intended to see to |
1t that furnished the corpse. And is
that the kind Of bill ye would collect?' she |
said. The bill Of O man that calls him
self a doctor and gives girl in spasms
medicine to be taken once in four hoursH |
I demonstrated that she had called the
doctor and ought to pay him. Doctors is
no good she said scornfully. 4 throwed
his medicine out of the window, and I'd
like to serve him the same. Oh, she con-
tinued, becoming very sarcastic, you can
sue if you want to; but you knows what
them catches as sues beggars.' And she
stalked Indignantly out
''The clustering man is another nice !
character. He comes laundering around
with big nose and red face, and wants
to know why in the name of the seven
devils he is distraced by having bill sent
to him through an agency. The idea, he
busters, of anybody supposing wouldn't
pay the bill. But he never does. He goes
out with the parting shot that he would
have paid it but now he will wait till he
gets ready. There is only one way to reach
that kind of man. We go right to his en-
is usually getting q good salary
and we force a collection. No quarter
Is shown in such cases. % $50
What do you find the hardest class to
deal with in this city," asked the reporter.
"Well, about the toughest cases we get
are the bills against laywers-some of
the big downtown fellows that you would
never suspect, too. If the clients only
knew it, they could pay some big fees
pretly cheap ny DuylHS up tue UI11S IndU
are floating around. The best class to
collect from is the medium poor, who
have a small regular income. We meet
pitiful case of broken-down gentility,
trying to keep up appearances. The
excuses they make and the pains they
take to hide their poverty are really
We are never hard on such
people. though our business isn't one that
has much heart in it.-San Francisco
Chronicle Interview.
Every able bodied Indian in Maine has
O dog and every Indian who is not able
bodied has two.
The Writing of the Stars.
The marvellous nature Of star photo
Urn nhs Ia kaanIv annreciafad hv Mr. |